Released on = August 13, 2006, 2:21 pm

Press Release Author = Henri Boulanger / http://www.yourmonaco.com

Industry = Real Estate

Press Release Summary = Rumours that a new island is to be built off Monte Carlo
which will have new property, offices and commercial businesses have been confirmed.


Press Release Body = Monaco is to build a new island in the Mediterranean, just off
Monte Carlo, confirming rumours that have been circulating for a year of a major new
development in the Principality.

With a surface area of some 275,000 square metres, the development adds size to the
world\'s second smallest country - but not enough to lift it up from it\'s exisitng
ranking in land area.

Commenting on the news, local travel guide YourMonaco say it is a welcome
development for Monaco.

\'The new development will add to to Monaco\'s housing stock, which might take a
little pressure off the current prices which are among the highest in the world. One
of the stipulations for those bidding for the development is that it must be good
architecture and sympathetic to the local environs - which we take to be no high
rises\'.

There is no mention of new hotels in the initial plans, but it is thought that at
least one or possibly two will be included.

And there is a possibility that the Monaco Grand Prix circuit might be changed to
include the new area. Monaco is notorious for the lack of overtaking opportunities
and bidders have been instructed to take the Monaco Grand Prix into account.

Monaco Hotels

As well as the Grand Prix, Monaco enjoys having several internationally recognised
world class hotels, including the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo. It is likely that
any new hotels will have to be of a similar standard, and as the new development
will include yacht moorings speculation in Monaco is that at least one hotel will be
built close to the moorings.

Monaco is one of the world\'s best known tax havens, and residents benefit from a
zero income tax policy.

Property prices in Monaco are high due to the lack of land - in the past one of the
districts, Fontvieille, had much of its area reclaimed from the sea, but property
prices there equal those of the better known Monte Carlo.

One of the best known buildings in Fontvieille, Seaside Plaza, has average prices of
three to four million Euros for a three bedroom apartment, and a four bedroom four
bathroom one is currently on the market at close to ten million Euros.

Tribune Properties who specialise in Monaco property doubt that prices will ease much.

\'By the time the development is finished prices would probably have gone up in
Monaco anyway, and this new development on the housing side is likely to be aiming
for quality rather than quantity\', they claim. \'It\'s almost certain that the
properties will be snapped up by investors off-plan, and then come back to the
market with a premium once the buildings are complete. The development in itself
will attract more attention to the Monaco property market. In the short and medium
term prices are likely to rise in Monaco rather than fall\'.

For more details about
Web Site = http://www.yourmonaco.com

Contact Details = YourMonaco.com, Welbeck House, High Street,
Guildford, Surrey, GU1 3Jf, England 44 1983 870340